“She’s very selective on who she likes and who she doesn’t like,” says Dumas, noting no one is allowed into her working space that’s surrounded by a thin electric wire fence onset.

“When I go away, she is a little upset and when I come back she’ll actually blow me off. If Dawn’s there she’ll go over and say hi to Dawn, love up to Dawn and then look at me like, ‘You’ve been gone.’”

Agee shot her “Arctic” role about a year ago in a warehouse in Abbotsford.

Her other credits include the 2014 Norwegian children’s drama “Operation Arctic” and 1996’s “Alaska” with Charlton Heston, which was her first movie. She also has her own Facebook page, Agee the Polar Bear.

Dumas, who has been an animal co-ordinator and trainer for 47 years, got Agee specifically for “Alaska” when she was two months old from the Kolmarden Wildlife Park zoo in Sweden in 1995.

He trained her through positive reinforcement, with the primary goal of making her a part of the family.

“I make a commitment to these animals,” says Dumas, who has had various creatures on his four-hectare property over the years, including a grizzly bear, cougars, deer, wolves and eagles.

“They work for me and then I work for them. You just don’t work ‘em and throw ‘em away. You’re with them or they’re with you for the rest of their lives.”

Agee has her own swimming pool and pen on the Dumas property, with the option to roam around on the grass as she sees fit.

She’s never been bred, and enjoys a diet of everything from chicken and salmon to pizza and Thai food.

Agee views Dawn like a “sister” and is so close to Dumas, he’s been able to stick his head into her mouth. The couple also sometimes swims with Agee.

When asked what he has to say to animal rights groups who think such creatures shouldn’t be in captivity, Dumas said: “If you saw the relationship I have with Agee, you’d be a fool to say that she is having a hard life. She really has it nice.”

“If Agee were ill treated, I wouldn’t be able to lay down with her, swim with her and train her,” he added.

“When I pull her trailer in front of her cage, she gets excited. It’s something that she likes to do. That happens because she is treated with a lot of respect.”

Dumas was born in Los Angeles and says he “fell into” animal training while working on the lion ranch of an acquaintance’s father.

“It’s a lifestyle,” said Dumas, adding he’s not in it for the money. ”If I figured out what I’ve made throughout my life, I’ve probably averaged about five cents an hour.

“You raise the animal from a baby, you spend a lot of time with it and no one’s paying you to do it, you just do it. And it’s a love you have.”